Broken Memories
by Jayde-Green07
Summary: Sasuke is back. Sakura is ANBU and leads her own team with Shika as her co-leader.They are sent on a mission and Tsunade orders that Sasuke go with. Sasuke noticed that Sakura and Shika seem really close. Sakura realizes it too. Sakura/Shika CHAP 4 IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

**I'm compleatly stuck with Captured?, you guys have no idea. You can check out my Deviantart site and read what I posted in my journal for more details. So I was at work, got bored. And...well here ya go. **

**I do not own Naruto.**

**Broken.**

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Sakura stood there, staring at her sensei. The woman _had _to be insane! No way was she about to team up with…._him_. No way in hell!

"Please repeat, Hokaga-sama." She stated, in her Jounin voice. Her ANBU voice. Her captain voice. With a slight edge of anger threaded in there somewhere. Her hands were on her hips, her ANBU cat like mask clipped onto the side of her shorts. Her pink hair was pulled back in a pony tail. She was wearing her white ANBU chest guard, sporting the Haruno clan symbol of course, white Jounin vest and white shorts. The forehead protector that use to grace the top of her head, now sat down around her waist. Her black charka gloves had been replaced with new red ones at the time of her Jounin graduation, along with being given another headband, in which she had tied around her right leg, just below the wrappings that helped hold her kunai pouch to her. The black boot below had mesh peeking out from it. More wrapping slipped from under her shorts, to end right above her left knee, while more protruded from her boot, of the same leg, to _almost _meet in the middle of her leg, leaving a bit of skin. Last off, was the long sleeve mesh shirt she was wearing, along with the scowl on her face.

"As I said, Sakura, you will be taking Uchiha Sasuke with you on this mission. He will be a huge asset to your group." Tsunade said, once again. Her eyes were transfixed on her student, doing everything but paying attention to the ones behind the pink hair ANBU captain, who was, at the moment, on the verge of blowing up at the blonde woman. It had been years since Haruno Sakura had blown up at anyone.

Shikamaru was fidgeting in the corner he was in while leaning up against the wall. If his captain was going to explode he wanted to be as close to her as possible, because he would be the only one who could stop her before she hurt someone. Kiba and Shino would run, they were both already inching to the door, along with Akamaru. Neji, well, he was quite sure what Neji would do. Shikamaru turned to look at said Hyuuga, who was in turn looking at him. Neji wouldn't run. The Uchiha was due at any minute, then he'd need as much back up as possible.

Sakura watched as Shikamaru pushed himself off the wall and walked up to stand beside her. Neji quickly followed his lead and moved to stand on her other side. She was still in the middle of arguing with the big breasted woman in front of them.

"He has only recently returned to the village, Hokaga-sama, and if I remember correctly, which believe me, I do, he is still a Genin. He is not qualified for this mission." She was saying. She was starting to get a 

headache. She had been in the Hokaga tower for hours discussing her latest mission, when suddenly Tsunade had dropped this on her.

Tsuande was about to answer when the door opened behind the three ANBU, reveling Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura stiffen, but she did not turn to look at the new arrival. She was still focused on her teacher. Ignoring him as much as possible was her newest goal. She liked goals. They kept her in check.

"Just think of it this way, if he dies, he dies. You won't have to worry about him anymore, ne?" he questioned, ignoring the Uchiha behind them, apparently Sakura was doing the same. Normally it would have gotten a smile out of the pink headed girl. Normally. He was, instead, sent a glare.

"No one dies on my missions, Shikamaru. You of all people know that." She said. Her voice, however, was soft…sad, almost, and he knew that she was reliving the memories. With that, she nodded to her Hokaga and leapt to the window behind her, only she stopped before she completely left the building. "We leave in four days. Uchiha, you're with Hyuuga-san. You have four days to train with him, get to know his style, and he yours. You will depend on each other. This is more for you than it is for him. He knows what to do. You don't." Not once did she look at the Uchiha standing in the middle of the room. She formed a few hand seals and vanished in a spray of sakura flowers.

xXx

Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets. His attire had hardly changed throughout the years. He still wore the same thing; only the Chuunin vest was replaced with a black Jounin vest, his wolf-like ANBU mask was clipped to the right breast, the vest was unzipped, however. Turning around, he took in Uchiha Sasuke. He had finally returned to the village after killing off his brother. He had been in serious condition but Sakura had refused to heal him. Instead she had left it up to Tsunade. Shikamaru didn't blame her. For the Hokaga, it was an easy task, as it would have been for Sakura. Sasuke looked almost completely healed. Sakura probably would have left scars, on purpose of course. The man before him had put her though hell these last eight years. She had grown distant. Cold. Until that day.

Shikamaru shook his head to clear his thoughts away from their destination before speaking to the Uchiha. "You heard what she said. You need to start working with Neji immediately. You only have four days." He said. He wouldn't be ready in four days, Shikamaru knew that. His next words proved it.

Sasuke looked up at Shikamaru, frowning. "I don't take orders from Sakura. Or you, Nara." He said.

There was a throat-clearing sound from behind Shikamaru, and everyone turned to look at Tsunade. "Actually, you do. She is your captain. She is the one who will be deciding if you become a Jounin, possibly an ANBU, or if we keep you at Genin and force you to go though the Chuunin exams again."

Shikamaru watched as Sasuke's eyes widened just the tiniest bit before he pulled his emotionless mask back over. He smirked before jumping over Tsunade's desk to the same window Sakura had. Tsuande's voice stopped him.

"She left before I finished. Tell her that this is a regular A-rank mission. As far as we know. But the details are suspicious. Watch out for possible S rank details." She was flipping through the stack of paper that was sitting in front of her. "Dress Jounin, take ANBU. Report to me if the mission status changes. I'll be raising the price if it does. Requesting three of my best ANBU, one being my best medic, that damned man." The last was stated under her breathe, but not low enough that all the shinobi in the room couldn't hear her.

Again Shikamaru smirked. He turned to face the village below, getting ready to leave.

"I don't need a partner. I do just fine on my own."

Shikamaru turned around before letting himself slid to sit on the window seal. His hands in his pockets. "It really doesn't matter what you think you need, Sasuke. Sakura groups everyone up for a reason. It's the buddy system. Back up. You don't go off on your own. Going off will get you killed."

"Hn." Sasuke scoffed.

"Don't brush it off. You should be honored to be allowed to even visit her team. No one has died on her team in three years. If she's on it, its successful. And she's had many different teams. She's raised three sets of Genin to boot. All passed their Chuunin exams the first time. Eighty-five percent have passed 

their Jounin exams the first time as well. So again, I say. Don't brush it off." Shikamaru watched as Sasuke seemed to think it over. He was still wearing the white Uchiha shirt that Sakura had said that he had been wearing when they say him those many years ago. The purple sound belt was gone. All that was left was the white shirt and black pants. He had yet to recover a leaf headband.

"Why has no one died?" Sasuke questioned.

Shikamaru looked around the room. Tsunade, Shino and Kiba were all watching him intently. Neji was leaning up against Tsunade's desk, his head hung, eyes closed. But he was listening. Shino and Kiba were sitting in the chairs across from Tsunade. They were now on the edge of their seats.

"Ino, Lee, and Chouji were all killed three years ago. In a dysfunctional team, with bad leadership. He split them up so that they could "cover more ground". The group of missing nin that they were looking for, stayed as a group and picked them off. One by one. Sakura, Neji and I…were the recon team. We were back up. She found them first. She was leading. I found her wasting her chakra on a long dead Lee. She was screaming and crying. When I told her that Lee was gone she took off and found Ino. Who had also been dead for quite awhile. She ended up beating on Ino's body. Screaming at her. Begging her to not die, that she was going to save her. Again she was shoving chakra into a dead body. It took both me and Neji to get her off and calmed down." Shikamaru's eyes had casted down to the floor. He looked up at Tsunade, who was crying, before glancing out the window beside him. "That was the last time she ever cried."

Shikamaru leaned back, out the opened window while turning to look at Sasuke. "She groups everyone up into pairs. Threes when needed. She always takes an even amount of people. She sets them together based on their skills. Who can support who." He pointed at Shino and Kiba. "I'll use them for an example. A "duh" example if you will. Shino's bugs can hinder someone's movements enough that Kiba and Akamaru have enough time for their attack, moving only a second before impact, not giving the enemy a chance to save themselves." He said.

Sasuke was looking at him now. Like he had figured something out. Shikamaru stood up and turned back to the window. This time, he was really leaving. He had a feeling that he knew what this was about.

"Yes, I'm with Sakura. Been with Sakura from the start." He could feel the glare burning into his back. _What the hell is his problem? _He quickly shook it off and hopped out the window, racing across the 

rooftops to his team's training area. _Time to go deal with collateral damage from Haruno Sakura. _ He thought. _How troublesome._

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**I hate how it gets shorter on here. Meh. Anyway. There ya go. Now. Go to my profile for a link to my DA page. Becuase I KNOW that SEVERAL of you are confused with Sakura's ANBU set up. Its there. Now. Reviews pwease!! Oh! And comments on DA would be UBER cool. .  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Alright. So. Still stuck on where to go on Captured. So, I've uploaded chapter two of this one. Not much Sakura/Shika "Action" But...meh. Its helpful.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Claimer: I do own Tori

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_The water was cool on her bare feet, as she gently splashed it away from her. She leaned back on her hands to look up at the clouds as they passed over head. She was sitting on one of the many docks that lined the Konaha River. She had to keep taking deep breathes to keep from screaming. There was no way she was going to keep Sasuke on her team. No way in hell. He'd already screwed up her life as it was, why should she let him continue? _

_She shouldn't. Sakura took another deep breath and let herself fall backwards, so that she was laying down on the dock. He'd be there soon. It never took him too long. Rarely would she need to come here to cool off. Rarely did she even lose her cool anymore. But when she did, he always came to watch the clouds with her. _

_Only a few more minutes did it take her to feel his chakra approaching. He was moving fast, meaning that he was worried that she was going to go off and hurt something…or someone. Or herself while venting on someone else. At the rare occasions where she was really upset, she'd search out some of Konaha's best ANBU and spar with them. She'd force them into not to going light on her by going at them with intent to kill. She had ended up in the hospital countless times because of it. _

_Shikamaru was standing beside her now, head tilted up, looking at the same clouds that she was looking at. _

"_You go by Headquarters?" She asked, never taking her eyes off the clouds._

"_Nope. Didn't think you seemed that upset. I did stop by the training grounds and Hyuuga-san's place though." He answered. _

_Right. When she couldn't find a ANBU, Neji, or Kiba, she liked to spar with Hinata. The shy girl had grown up. A lot over the past few years in fact. She was no longer shy, and expert in her hand to hand combat. And engaged to one, Uzumaki Naruto. They weren't even married and already she was sporting his colors. Of course, the Hyuuga girl did look quite stunning in orange. _

_Sakura glanced over and up at Shikamaru right as he looked down at her._

"_You gonna be alright with this?" He questioned._

"_No." She answered, closing her eyes and looking away. "But I'll deal. I always deal. You know that. I'll breathe for the next few days and get over it. If he trains with Neji he trains with Neji. If he doesn't, then he's not yet cut out for the Jounin rank, let alone ANBU." She heard him shift. Her eyes were still closed. "Yeah, I heard Tsunade. I left completely when you started telling him The Story." Its what she called it. "The Story." She couldn't call it anything else. _

_She felt his elbow touch her's and she knew that he was lying on the ground, mimicking her position. Hands behind his head. _

"_So you got the, go Jounin, pack ANBU." Shikamaru stated. _

_Sakura nodded, letting her eyes pick a cloud and follow it for awhile. "Yeah Shika, I got it." She said, a small smile playing on the edge of her lips._

_Not many people called him Shika anymore. Actually, once he thought about it, no one called him that anymore. Just Sakura. Ino and Chouji's deaths had hit him hard. He had lost it as bad as Sakura when they finally found the last team member that day. They ended up being a day late in getting home, sending a messenger bird ahead of them. Neji had been the only one who had kept his cool, at least until they had turned in the mission report. That's when they all ended up at the Memorial stone together. Holding each other in the sorrowness of it all. _

_So he didn't let anyone call him Shika. He's get angry. Shikamaru never got angry. He gave a deep sigh before turning to watch Sakura sit up. She had wrapped her arms around her legs, which she had pulled out of the water. Her eyes were still on the sky. _

"_We're going to find those kids, Shika. And we're going to kill that bastard. Or perhaps bastards?" she said softly. _

_Right. The mission._ Shikamaru thought. "I don't get how someone can be so stupid as to…kidnap a child, give them amnesia and then…send them back out into the world with different memories?" He said, he was watching her now, instead of the clouds.

"If they go back with different memories, it's not quite amnesia is it? Its said that the kids are really young, but they have the skills of Chuunin. It's someone skilled. Someone very skilled. I could do it. But Hinata couldn't. Hinata's good, but she's not up at my level yet." Sakura said. She wasn't being boastful, no. She was telling the truth. The only one up to her level was Hinata's third cousin, Neji's second and Sakura's apprentice. Hyuuga Tori. She, like Neji, had overlooked her Hyuuga placed seal and surpassed many of the main house members, including Hinata, at least in medical justus. She wore it proudly, unlike Neji, displaying it for all to see, her headband around her neck. She was not ashamed. She liked the fact that people knew she was of the secondary branch, yet she was better than _many _of the main branch. She was also trying to find a way to reverse the seal that kept her caged up. It wouldn't be long before the main branch no longer controlled at least one of their family members. Sakura was sure that Neji would be first in line to become number two. "Tori could do it. Tori could undo it. "

"We have you, we don't need two medic nin, Sakura. "Shikamaru stated., confused at the trail she was laying.

"How many children did she say was taken?" Sakura countered. She had torn her eyes away from the clouds to look at Shikamaru. "How many?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Fouty-eight. Okay you have a point." And she did. "With that many cases you wouldn't be able to handle them all, ne? Who's the eighth person?" He asked. He knew that she would never take an odd number unless she absolutely _had _to.

Sakura was looking up at the sky again. She was counting off her possibilities.

"Tenten?" Shikamaru offered. It wouldn't hurt. The weapons' artist had gone on missions with them before. However, nothing that was close to S-rank.

"No. She gets too tied up in her emotions over Neji. And she's not ANBU. I was thinking around the lines of Hinata." Sakura answered.

"Hinata is not ANBU either. Why her over Tenten?" Shikamaru questioned, though he had an idea.

"Hinata is not ANBU because she chooses to not be ANBU. She's over qualified for the job. Tenten is not ANBU because she can't pass the test. She gets too caught up in her emotions."Sakura answered. Just as he had thought.

"And Neji still has no idea?" he asked, looking over at her.

Sakura shook her head. "Nope." She glanced over at Shikamaru with a small smile on her face. "He claims that she's looking for companionship because of Lee." She said.

Shikamaru nodded while sitting up next to her. "Hinata it is then." He agreed. "Don't forget that we will be traveling in Cloud country. As the village is right within their border."

How could she forget.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. However, It'll be nice to have a medic in each group as well as a Byakugan. With Tori being the main medic of Kiba and Shino's group, I'll have Hinata be their Byakugan user." Sakura stated.

Shikamaru thought it over for several seconds before answering. "So…me, you, Neji, and Uchiha." He paused, waiting for the nod that he was hoping would not come. It came. "Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Tori. Two groups then, instead of four."

"Hai. I don't want to split us up too much, especially with Uchiha on board. And I want to keep them even. We know Neji's style. Neji knows our style. All Neji has to do is learn Sasuke's style. The others have worked together before, that's why I didn't put them in with us. I kind of know Sasuke's style. So it won't be that hard to pick up. Besides, His Sharingan might come of use." Sakura said. Then she was on her feet, a bright smile on her face. "Let's go get the two lady Hyuuga." She was excited. Which was a good thing. And it had been a long time since she had smiled.

Shikamaru stood up and faced towards the Hyuuga compound. "When I was looking for you, they were sparring.

Sakura nodded and jumped up to the nearest rooftop. "Let's go." She said, and she was gone, taking off towards the Hyuuga training grounds.

Shikamaru smiled. "How troublesome." He whispered, before taking off after Sakura.

XxX

He caught up to her when he reached the Hyuuga training grounds. It was closed in by the large square wall that he had landed on, which was covered in vines, and connected to the Hyuuga main house. Naruto was sitting up on the main house roof beside Kiba, Akamaru and Shino. Neji was leaning against the main house wall, his eyes fixed to the training ring. Sasuke was sitting on a railing, his back pressed up against a post, his feet out in front of him on the railing. He too was fixated on the training ring. Sakura was standing on the steps leading out to the ring. She was watching Hinata and Tori's sparring match.

Hinata kicked out at Tori, who caught her foot and spun her around away from her while aiming a fist at the shoulder coming towards her. Hinata blocked it with one arm while bringing up the other one to land a blow in Tori's abdomen. Tori shot backwards, away from the Hyuuga heiress. They were performing basic taijustsu. Neither had their Byakugans activated.

Tori rushed at Hinata again, ducking low to avoid a closed fist that was aimed at her face, before kicking out at Hinata's legs, trying to knock her off balance. Hinata jumped up, landing several feet behind her original position. Again Tori charged at her, punch after punch getting blocked by the Hyuuga heiress. However, Hinata was being backed up into the nearest wall. As soon as her back hit the wall, Tori's last strike stopped inches from where her heart was. It was a killing blow. Tori won.

Shikamaru jumped off the wall to land beside Sakura, who was beaming at her apprentice.

"She's good, Sakura." He said, watching Tori pull her hand back and bow to Hinata, who bowed back.

Sakura threw him a "Duh" look. "Of course she is, Shika." Tori and Hinata was walking over to them. Sakura turned to look at the two women. "Think if that that included the Byakugan as well as Tori's chakra infused punches." She said, looking at Tori, who was beaming like a mad woman. Like her sensei, she had perfect chakra control.

"That was hot, Tori-chan." Kiba said from the roof.

"Bite me, Kiba." Tori commented, rolling her eyes as she reached Sakura and Shikamaru.

"Just tell me where, sweetheart." Kiba countered. Tori ignored him.

Tori had short black hair. The back of it was chin level while the front was slightly longer. She was wearing a black tube top who's straps hung down off of her arms, a sleeveless, neck high mesh shirt, along with abdomen wraps that were peeking out from under her top. She had on short, black shorts and tall black boots. The bottom of her left leg had mesh peeking out from her boot, while her top right leg had mesh coming from her shorts. White wrap was wrapped around the top mesh on her leg to hold up her kunai pouch. There were mesh forearm bands around her elbows. Last but not least, her black Jounin vest and the black gloves Sakura had given her when she passed her Jounin exams. She was three years younger than Sakura.

"Thank you, Sakura-sensai." She said, bowing to the pink headed woman. This caused Sasuke to look up at Sakura.

Sakura then turned to Hinata, who had moved to lean up against the nearest railing, arms across her chest. She was wearing her normal top that now had an orange shirt peeking out from it, along with her orange Jounin vest. Instead of her long pants she now wore orange shorts and orange boots, mesh wrapping around her left knee while more came out of the top of her left boot, and of course the wrap that held her kunai pouch.

"However." Sakura started. "Hinata was holding back her speed. She has amazing dodging abilities. Not to mention her defensive technique." Tori nodded at her sensei.

"Hai. Hinata-sama is very good. We were working on my basic taijustsu, as you could see. We're slowing working up my speed." She said.

"Good. Now. You know I never come here unless I have a reason, Tori." Sakura said, gaining a nod from both Hyuuga women. That's when Naruto, Kiba, and Shino dropped from the roof. Naruto moved over and wrap his arm around Hinata's shoulders, who, in turn, smiled up at him. "I need you and Hinata for a mission."

Naruto blinked at Sakura. "Who else is going on the mission, Sakura-chan? And what is it about?" He questioned.

Sakura shook her head. "I cannot tell you the details, Naruto. But it will be me, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Tori, Hinata and Sasuke-sama." She saw Sasuke twitch at the surname she placed on him.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "What?! But Sakura-chan! Why did you not ask me to go on this mission with you?!" He complained.

Sakura and Shikamaru sighed at the same time.

"Because, Naruto. You are studying under Tsuande for the day you become Hokage." Sakura said, raiding her hand to her temple before tapping it in annoyance. _Here we go_. She thought.

"But Sakura-chan! I need a break! Come on, Sakura-chan! Take me with you! Baa-chan is working me really hard! She hasn't given me a missions in weeks! Please Sakura-chan!" Great. He was begging.

"No, Naruto. I need Tori for her medic skills and Hinata for her Byakugan, as I will have Tori focusing on healing instead of fighting." Sakura said, receiving a nod from both Tori and Hinata.

"But Sakura-chan! You have Neji! Do you really need two Byakugans?!" Naruto cried. He then looked at Hinata. "Tell her to let me go!"

Hinata gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." She said softly.

Again his jaw dropped. "H-Hinata-chan!" He screeched. The boy hadn't changed a bit.

Again, Sakura sighed. "You know how my teams work, Naruto. Speaking of, listen up. I've changed the formation. We're going in two groups, not three, or four it would have been with two new members." This got the rest of her team's attention. "Neji and Sasuke-sama will group with me and Shikamaru. I will be their medic. Tori and Hinata will group with Kiba and Shino. Tori will be their medic. Neji will travel in the front on my team, Hinata in the front on her team." Sakura turned around to look at Tori, Kiba, Shino and Hinata. "Tori is your team leader. Shino is back up leader." They nodded.

Shikamaru stepped in. "We leave in four days. Neji, you and Sasuke might still want to consider training together for the next four days, as there is a chance that we will be dividing the groups up should there be a reason to. You know that Neji. Sakura and I call it when we see it. The others have worked together before." He said.

"Guess that means you are our back up leader." Sasuke stated. He wasn't looking at anyone except for Sakura, who had been purposely ignoring him. Until now.

"No. He is my co-leader. You listen to him like you listen to me. If he tells you to do something, then I would have approved. Same goes for Tori. She knows how I think, and she uses it." She turned to Shikamaru. He was the only one that she trusted to make decisions for her. Of course they had been on the same team for over four years now.

Sakura turned back to Tori and Hinata. "Travel Jounin. Pack ANBU. Hinata, we'll grab your ANBU set from HQ tonight and have it sent over to you." They kept her an extra ANBU set just in case of missions like this. "Shikamaru and I need to go see the Hokage and inform her of our decision." She said. The group in front of her nodded, save for Sasuke, who just glared at Shikamaru. Sakura turned to Shikamaru. "Let's go, Shika." She said softly. She moved down the steps and jumped up towards the roof. If she landed they would never know, for no sound was made.

Shikamaru nodded before turning to bow at the two Hyuuga women. He then turned to Neji. "Same time, same place?." He questioned. Neji nodded. Shikamaru turned around and followed after Sakura.

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**Alrighty, another chapter down. I'm working on Chapter three now, and will get it up asap. Hopefully I can get some of Captured? in before the week is over and get it posted up. Chances are, the chapter will be short. **

**Remember. Character profiles (Females at least) are on my Deviantart page. www.Jadeddemon..**

**Check it out.**

**Jayde**


	3. Chapter 3

**Whoo hoo! Chapter 3! Its not..wonderful. At least I dont think so. But meh. Its your opinions that are important, of course. :D So. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Claimer: I do own Tori**

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"_Does it ever stop hurting, Kakashi?" Sakura asked._

"_You've asked me that same question every morning for the past three years, Sakura." The white haired ninja answered. "And I've always given you the same answer."_

"_It hasn't stopped yet." Sakura said, nodding. Its what he told her every morning. Every morning that she, Shikamaru, and Neji had a mission, they joined him at the memorial stone. Its why he had always been late. He spent most of his free time sitting there, talking to his long lost friends. _

_It was the day they were leaving for their next mission. The one that was already putting team mates in danger. It was a known fact that Cloud was still out for a live member of the Hyuuga clan. And she was taking three of the clans best with her into Cloud territory. _

_It was also a known fact that she, Shikamaru, Neji, and Tori were all in the bingo books for several countries, if not all, excluding sand. Let alone Sasuke. Who __was_in all of the bingo books.

Sakura was wearing her Jounin suit. Long sleeve mesh shirt, covered by a black tube top who's sleeves hung off her shoulders, short back skirt, black gloves, and her black Jounin vest. Her tall back boots still graced her feet, more mesh creeping out of them.

She felt Shikamaru and Neji approaching. Turning around, she saw them coming up the path behind them.

"Always early for the stone. Always late for the missions. You really have picked up your old sensei's trait." Shikamaru stated as he came to a stop beside Sakura. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she leaned back into him.

Sakura shrugged. "Someone had to. Naruto is always too excited and ends up getting there early anyway. Sasuke was never around _to_ pick it up." She felt Kakashi's eyes on her at the Uchiha's name.

"So he really is back." He said, his one dark eye looking his favorite student over. The Uchiha boy had left her here. He himself had left her behind, to focus on Naruto. Naruto had left her behind to focus on training. But she didn't see to hold it against them. However, the Uchiha seemed to be a different story.

"Hai. He returned a week ago. Tsunade has assigned him to this mission with us." Sakura turned around to face her old teacher. "It didn't sink in, Kakashi. All that teamwork training. He still doesn't get it." she said, shaking her head.

Kakashi sighed, getting ready to speak before Neji interrupted.

"He trained with me every day, like you told him to. He's really fast, Sakura. His speed has surpassed Kakashi's. And that full body Chidori. Amazing." he said. His hands were in his pockets as he spoke. He was watching Sakura.

"Interesting. How are his chakra reserves?" Sakura asked. She had pulled a hand up to her mouth, the nail on her thumb between her teeth. Undoubtedly a trait she had picked up from the Hokage.

"Good. Deep. He has a lot of chakra, Sakura. However, not anywhere close to Naruto, but then again, who does? And he doesn't have your chakra control, but he doesn't waste as much as Naruto does. " This got a nod from the pink haired kuniochi.

"Good." Then she sighed. "We should probably get going. Shika?" She questioned, turning to the Nara boy.

Shikamaru almost rolled his eyes as he turned to Sakura. The girl was lazier then he was! "Yeah, sure. I don't mind." he answered, gaining a smile from Sakura. He was to give out formation instructions before they left.

"Rather large group you got going with you, Sakura. I wasn't there for the debriefing, as it wasn't my mission. But. Do you need that many people?" Kakashi asked, turning to walk back up the path towards Konoha. Sakura, Shikamaru, and Neji quickly followed suit.

"Hai. Fouty-eight children, Kakashi. It gets larger every day. We should have left as soon as the mission was given to us, but Tsunade wanted to give Sasuke time to settle into his new group. However, Neji is the only one that's seen him since that day. " Sakura answered.

Kakashi nodded. "Understandable. The group, that is. And, well I suppose Sasuke is as well. He has only been with a smaller group of people since he left Orochimaru." They were headed to the Konoha gates as they spoke.

"What happened to them anyway?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes never left the road in front of him, as he spoke to the copy ninja.

Kakashi shrugged. "We have no idea, actually. He came back alone. Said that he would take whatever punishment was given for his betrayal. For some reason, the elders okayed it, being that he took out both Orochimaru _and _Uchiha Itachi." he said.

Sakura looked up at the sky, remembering that day. It had been the last day she had seen the young Uchiha until he had decided to return to Konoha. It was the day she stopped loving him.

_Flashback_

_Their team quickly reached their destination. The ground was nothing but broken rock, an apparent battle had gone on. A dark figure laid on the ground, unmoving. Sakura raced forward, only to be met with three others. A red haired girl, a blue haired man, and an orange haired man, who looked rather sad. _

"_Where do you think you're going, bitch?" The red haired girl questioned, hands on her hips._

"_They are left ninja, possibly comrades of Sasuke-sama." The orange haired man said. _

_Sakura looked around the group, seeing that the figure on the ground was Sasuke. "Let me go to him." She demanded. He was bleeding, and if she didn't get to him quickly, he would die. _

"_No way in hell, bitch." the red haired girl said. "Sasuke-kun is mine."_

_Sakura's eyes narrowed. "I don't care what he is, you dumbass. He's dying and I'm the only medic here, and his only chance of surviving, so why don't you get the fuck out of the way?" She said. She was pissed. Her old team mate was laying there, on the ground, dying. And this bitch wouldn't move!_

_The red haired girl scoffed, getting ready to say something else before the blue haired man jumped in. _

"_Shut it, Karin. She has a point." he said, lugging the giant sword that was in his hand over his back. _

_Sakura moved past Karin and up to the fallen Uchiha. He was alive, breathing, but unconscious. She kneeled down over his body, letting green chakra cover her hands as she searched for his condition. His eyes were bleeding a dark liquid and when she ran her hands over them she knew he was blind. She ignored it for the time being, sliding her hands down the rest of his body. He would live. But he needed work. _

_She quickly started pushing chakra into his body, healing the gashing that were cut into him. When she was done she moved her hands to his eyes. Suddenly his hand shot up and wrapped itself around her neck with a crushing brace. _

"_Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered. _

_He faltered. His fingers twitched. His eyes looked towards her voice. At her. They were glazed over. She had been right. He was blind._

"_Sa-ku-ra?" He questioned, his words slow. _

_Sakura reached up and wrapped her fingers around his hand. "Let go, Sasuke." she said softly. _

_Sasuke only tightened his grip. "Its dark. Why is it dark? What did you do to me!"_

_Sakura pulled chakra into her fingers and ripped his hand away from her neck. "I didn't do shit to you, Sasuke-kun. You're blind I'm trying to reverse that." _

_Sasuke turned away from her. "Fine. Get it done." he stated. _

_Sakura took a deep breath to keep from screaming at him. Chakra wrapped around her hand as she placed it over Sasuke's eyes. It was over an hour before she was finally done with both eyes, and she was drained of chakra. She looked up at Sasuke with a small smile._

"_You can open them now." She said. _

_He opened his eyes, looking around, before looking at Sakura. "Hn." he said. Then he looked up at Karin, and the two other boys. "Lets go." he said. _

"_Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered. _

_Sasuke turned to her. "I'm not going back to Konoha, Sakura. Now that you healed my eyes, I can continue my search for the other person who killed my family."_

_Sakura's hand came back, only to shoot forward again and strike across Sasuke's face. "You bastard." She growled. "I wasted my chakra on you and you cant even say thank you."_

_A smirk slipped onto Sasuke's features. "Why would I thank you, Sakura?" _

_Another slap. "Go to hell, Sasuke." _

_End Flashback_

They were getting closer to the gates. Sakura could already see all five figures. They were on time, as usual. She, Shikamaru, and Neji however, were not.

"Naruto hasn't forgive him." Neji stated. This got him a sharp look from Sakura.

"What do you mean, Neji?" She asked, stopping in the street. The others stopped with her.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice that he ignored Sasuke the entire time they were at our compound the other day." Neji said, his white eyes staring down at Sakura.

Sakura shook her head. "No, I really didn't. I was too busy ignoring him myself." She said. Then she sighed. "Let's just get this mission over with. So we can get him the hell off my team." She turned away from them and approached the rest of her team mates.

Both Shikamaru and Neji smiled at this. She had obviously let her feelings for the Uchiha boy go. It was good. She wouldn't get distracted.

Sakura took a deep breathe as she got up to the rest of her team. Kiba and Tori were at it again.

"Come on, Tori-chan." Kiba was begging.

"No…Kiba." Tori answered. Her hands were across her chest, her head turned away from the dog boy.

"One date, Tori-chan!" He had gotten on his knees, his hands clasped together. " I swear I'll make it worth your wile…" he said.

Tori rolled her eyes. "I said no, Kiba. Besides, what the hell is your idea of a date anyway?" She asked.

"You. Me. A dance club. Dinner. Movie at your place, or mine. I'm not picky." He was still on his knees, looking up at the female Jounin that was standing not a foot from him.

Tori looked down at him. Her eyes were narrowed. She was thinking it over. A hopeful smile appeared on Kiba's face.

Then she signed. "Fine. After the mission." she said, looking away with a small blush on her face.

Kiba shot up, his fist pumping the air. "Woot!" He hollered. Akamaru barked in excitement. Sakura finally reached her group, taking in the members. Tori and Hinata were wearing the same outfits as a few days ago. Kiba, Shino and Sasuke wore nearly the same things as always. She reached behind her, pulling her pack around to the front of her body so she could reach it. She unzipped it and reached inside, pulling out an ANBU suit that was very similar to her's if not exactly the same, then she tossed it to Hinata. Hinata caught it, twisted her own pack around and stuffed it inside, before catching the fox ANBU mask that Sakura threw at her next, stuffing it in her pack as well.

Kakashi had shoved his hands in his pocket. "Possible S-rank?" He questioned.

Sakura nodded. "Hai. Speaking of which. We received new information two days ago." She said.

Everyone stopped moving at looked at their captain, except for Shikamaru. He knew about the information. Kiba and Tori stopped arguing, Hinata stopped fidgeting with her backpack. Shino and Neji stopped the conversation they had gotten into, and Sasuke had stopped ignoring everyone.

"The information we have states that the children are being brainwashed. Its how it was stated. However, there is a medical justsu that can alter memories, add, cover up. Bury them and place new ones on top of them. Its _very _complex." This had Tori's eyes wide with excitement. Sakura smiled at her student. "They are having their memories altered then being sold as bodyguards. Our source states that the children seem to have ninja-like abilities. Stealth, speed, amazing agility. We were like this when we were twelve. They are all under the age of eight." This made Hinata's eyes widen.

"What is the plan, Sakura-san?" Kiba questioned, leaning against Akamaru's back.

"The children are being sold to wealthy families. Families who have the money and don't care where they come from, as long as they do their job. Two of us, will pose as a couple looking for a good bodyguard or two that can blend in. In example, a child. They pose as the family's actual children while protecting them at the same time. We will acquire one, if not two. Tori and I will examine them and see how to fix the problem. Hopefully, one, if not both, will remember where the person who is doing this is, what their name is, or who they are. And we will infiltrate, kill all involved, and find the documents of where all the children have been sent. We will then proceed from there." She was done. Finally. She sighed and leaned back on her heels. Shikamaru stepped forward.

"Alright. We're traveling as one group until we hit the cloud border." He said. Then he turned to Neji. "Neji will be leading, Shino will be behind him. Then it will be Sakura, me, Sasuke, Tori, Kiba, and Hinata." He turned to look at every person as he called their names, receiving a nod from everyone but the Uchiha. "Neji and Hinata will be our Byakugan users. Shino will send his bugs ahead to scout, Kiba and Akamaru will be keeping a nose out around us. Tori and Sakura are the respective medics. _We _protect _them._" Again, a nod from everyone except for the Uchiha. "When we reach cloud we will split up into our four man teams. We enter the village at different points, but take up resident in the same inn. We'll work out room and board when we get there, depending on their availability. " He turned to look at Sakura, who nodded.

Kiba reached out and grabbed Tori by the waste, pulling her to him. "I want to room with Tori-chan." he said, looking down at the girl.

"Ugh. Let go, dog boy." Tori said, pushing away from him.

Kakashi was still standing near Sakura, watching the group. "Sakura." he said, tilting his head, signaling her to follow. Sakura did so, and they moved out of the group's hearing. "You have too many leaders. Shikamaru and Neji are use to leading. Granted I've never been in a group with you, not with you as leader, but I have been in a group with them, me as leader. And they don't take orders very well. Then there's the Uchiha. Who's never taken orders very well." He said.

A smile slipped across Sakura's face. "The Uchiha is the only one I have to worry about. I haven't had problems with Neji and Shika in years, Kakashi. Mostly because they respect me, as a leader. I had to earned it. It wasn't just given to me. But I don't have problems with them because I take their opinions into consideration instead of brushing it off because I was in charge. Shika is co-leader of my group. And when Shika and I need to do undercover work, Neji is in charge." she said, her eyes trailing over to her group.

Kakashi smirked, though Sakura didn't see it. "Is Shikamaru always your first pick for things?" He questioned.

Sakura turned to Kakashi, confused. "Yes, why?" She asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "You guys have gotten close in the past few years." he said, turning to look glance at Shikamaru, who was going over everyone's gear.

"Common loss will do that to you, Kakashi." Sakura countered, not understanding what he was getting at.

"Hai." Then he shrugged. "Maybe I'm just looking too deep. But you guys seem closer than just team mates."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "We _are_friends, Kakashi." she said.

The copy ninja sighed. "Alright. I was just curious." he said, a frown forming on his face though the mask.

A wide smile spread across Sakura's face. "You're worried about me." She said.

Kakashi's eyes widened and he stepped back, his hands in the air. "No no! Don't be absurd, Sakura." He got a poke in the chest by the pink haired medic.

"Why would you be worried about me, Kaka-sensei?" She asked. It had been a long time since she had called him that.

Kakashi stopped his movements and moved closer to Sakura. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the contact, her eyes slightly narrowed. She didn't like to be touched.

"That's why." he said, gaining a confused look from the pink haired girl. "I've been the closest thing you've had to a father since your parents died. You know you're like a daughter to me. But you dislike it when I make contact with you."

Sakura shook her head while shaking off his hand. "Okay, and?" she questioned, her hands on her hips.

"Back at the stone. You welcomed his contact. You enjoy it." Kakashi said, slowly. His eye was searching her face for any type of reaction. And there it was. Her eyes widened just a bit. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. One of her arms wrapped around her waist.

"He makes me feel better. By just…being there." Then she held up her hands. "I don't want to talk about this right now, Kakashi. I have to go." she said, turning away from her sensei.

"Just do me a favor, Sakura." Kakashi said, stopping the girl In her tracks. She turned her head slightly, letting him know that she was listening. "Pay attention to it. Pay attention to the way you two are around each other. Evaluate yourself like you would an enemy. " he said.

Sakura turned back to face her group. "Fine." Then she walked off, leaving Kakashi to his own.

Shikamaru watched as Kakashi led Sakura off to talk. He let his eyes trail over to the Uchiha boy, watching his reaction. _I have a bad feeling about him. _He thought. His eyes stayed on Sasuke as the Uchiha's eyes narrowed at Kakashi. He looked…pissed? _Man, what the hell is his issue?_

Sakura walked up to Shikamaru, letting her eyes slid over her group. "Are we ready?" She whispered. Shikamaru nodded. "Good. Lets go." She turned towards the gate, Shikamaru following her.

Again he noticed the clear dislike in Sasuke's eyes as Sakura stuck close to Shikamaru. They were almost to the gate.

"Shikamaru!" a small voice screamed.

Shikamaru turned around to be latched onto by a small boy. "Hey there little Asuma." he said, patting the boy's head. The little boy looked up at him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Mommy said that you had another mission to go on." The little boy said.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yup." he said, pulling the kid off his leg.

"How long will you be gone?" Asuma questioned, his face full of hope.

"I actually don't know." Shikamaru looked up at Sakura, who had her hands on her hips.

"Kiddo." She said. The little boy stiffened before turning around slowly to see Sakura standing over him.

"Sakura-chan!" He quickly turned around and latched himself to her.

It was her turn to stiffen, her eyes shooting up to Shikamaru. He smiled before kneeling down and prying the little boys fingers out from around Sakura's leg.

"Now now, little Asuma. You know how Sakura-chan is." he whispered, gaining a glare from said medic. The small kid looked just like his father, minus the cigarette, thank kami.

Sakura knelt down next to Shikamaru before pulling out a kunai from her weapons pouch. "Here kiddo." She said, placing the sharp object on her leg before doing a few hand seals. When the last seal was complete she touched the kunai emitting a quick spark before it looked normal again. She then held it up, letting it dangle on her finger.

"Sakura. I know you are not about to give my son a kunai." a voice said.

Sakura turned around to see Kurenai standing behind her. She smiled up at the woman. "Of course not. I'm about to give him an Asuma-proof kunai." She said. This received a strange look from Kurenai. Sakura picked up the kunai and attempted to shove it into her leg. It bent. Like rubber. "If it makes contact with skin, it'll bend. He can attack trees, the ground, other weapons. But he cant hurt himself with _this_ one. " She waited for Kurenai's nod of approval before she held the weapon out to Asuma.

The little boy reached forward and grabbed the kunai from Sakura. "Thank you so much Sakura-chan!" He started to lunge forward at her, but stopped. "Um…Sakura-chan?" he whispered.

Sakura looked up at the small child. "Hm?"

"Can I hug you?" He said softly, a sad look on his face.

Sakura had to smile. "I suppose." Asuma smiled before leaning forward again, but he was stopped by a hand in his face. "But not too long, deal?"

"Deal!" Asuma squealed, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her neck, giving her a fast hug before backing up.

Sakura laughed at the young boy before standing up. "Shika and I need to go, kiddo." She said, causing a sad expression to form on the four year olds face. "But we'll come see you as soon as we get back, alright?" And his bright smile returned.

"Thank you, Sakura." Kurenai said, reaching down to pick up her son. "He is insane about you two."

Asuma pointed his newly obtained weapon at Sakura. "You will become my sensei!" he stated.

Sakura and Shikamaru laughed. "I cant promise you that kiddo. But I'll see what I can do, okay? But I wont play favorites, no matter how cute you are." Sakura said.

The small boy pouted. "You play favorites with Shikamaru." he whispered.

Sakura faltered. "W-what?" She asked. Tori and Kiba were behind them, laughing.

Sasuke had gained a scowl on his face. He was glaring daggers at the Nara boy.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't play favorites within my teams." she said, turning away from Kurenai and little Asuma. "We need to go." This to Shikamaru, who quickly wiped the grin off his face.

"Right." He turned to the group. "Lets head out." Then he glanced back at Asuma, as did Sakura. "See ya when we get back."

"Bye kiddo." Sakura said.

Kiba and Tori picked up their packs from the ground, throwing them across their backs. Hinata twisted hers back around to her back. Sasuke just turned away from the group and started heading out of the gate. Neji and Shino turned around to follow the Uchiha. Shikamaru threw his arm around Sakura's shoulder.

"You know I'm your favorite, Sakura." he said, as they walked to the gate.

Sakura shrugged his arm off her shoulder. "Shove off, Shika." she said, rolling her eyes.

Shikamaru pulled his hand up to his eyebrow in a mock salute. "Aye aye Captain," He said, before pushing chakra to his feet and launching himself up into the trees, and away from Sakura's fist.

Sakura quickly followed him, as did the others. Then they all shifted into their previously stated positions. First Neji, then Shino, Sakura, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Tori, Kiba, and lastly Hinata. A simultaneous "Byakugan!" was heard from Neji and Hinata. They were headed due north east, straight to cloud. It would take four days. Four long days. They would have to take at least two breaks a day, if not more. Not to mention sleeping at night. Sakura sighed. This was going to be a long mission.

Hours went by with mostly silence, save for Tori and Kiba in the back of the line, taking quietly. They weren't trying to keep anything from their teammates, but Sakura did like it relatively quite so they respected that. She had kept them alive for the past several years.

Sakura looked back behind her, taking in the team mates to the back. Kiba was nonchalantly watching Tori and it wasn't long before she heard,

"I like the way you set up the groups, Shikamaru. I am loving this view." he said, after Tori had been quite for awhile.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

Shikamaru smiled at his leader's reaction to Kiba's statement.

"Cant say mine sucks either, Kiba." he said to the dog boy, before catching the kunai that was aimed for his head. He quickly pocketed it. "Now now, Sakura. Is that anyway to treat your favorite team mate?" He questioned. Another kunai was thrown at him. He caught it before flipping it around his fingers and thrusting it back at Sakura. That's when he noticed the watchful eyes of the Uchiha boy. Sasuke's eyes were narrowed and locked on Sakura, his hands were pulled into fists. But it was the look in his eyes that scared Shikamaru. Look of possessiveness. Shikamaru sped up his pace to catch up with Sakura.

"Hey." he said. Sakura barely turned her gaze to him, but she did so enough that he knew she was listening. "Something is up with Sasuke." It gave him her full attention.

"Nani?" She questioned. She sped up, getting closer to Shino and Neji, father away from Sasuke. Shikamaru followed.

"He's watching you. A lot. It makes me uneasy, Sakura." Shikamaru said.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You and Kakashi always worrying about me. Its Sasuke. What's he going to do?" But as she said the words her thoughts were different. _Right. But what has he done already? Betrayed Konoha, already tried to kill you and Naruto at least once._ She sighed.

"Was that why Kakashi wanted to talk to you? Was he getting the same vibe I am?" Shikamaru questioned.

A small blush crept up Sakura's cheeks. "No. He had a different vibe. One that I'm not going to discuss with you." she said. _Because its _about_ you._

The blush wasn't hidden from Shikamaru. But he pretended to ignore it. _What the hell did Kakashi say to her? _"Fine. But still. He's different now, Sakura. You know that. And with the way he's been watching you, I'd feel better if there was distance." he said.

Sakura glanced back at Sasuke, who was indeed watching both of them intently. She turned back to Shikamaru. "Fine. We'll put him up there with Neji. Make an excuse of team work or something. Hell I don't care. But now since you've mentioned it, every time I see it its going to creep me out, thanks Shika." She said.

"Sakura…" Shikamaru started, but was stopped.

"No. Shika. Its fine. I'm not mad." Sakura looked at him. "Thanks. I appreciate it. I'll move people. But continue to watch him." She said, before dropping back to Kiba.

"I need you to move up to Shino. Side by side. We're traveling in two lines." Kiba nodded before speeding up to catch up with his partner. Sakura then fell back to Hinata. "Pull up next to Tori. When I get Neji and Sasuke together, you get in the opposite line that Neji is in." A nod from Hinata and the Hyuuga heiress was moving. _Now to Sasuke…_She thought with a growl.

She took a deep breathe and moved up next to the Uchiha. "We're changing positions." She said, in a low voice.

Sasuke turned to look at her. "Something wrong?" He questioned.

Sakura shook her head. "Just moving things around a bit. We felt too spread out." she said.

"You and the Nara boy didn't seem very spread out." Sasuke commented.

Sakura ignored it. "Move up with Neji. You guys are leading." she said.

Sasuke frowned. "Sakura…I, "He was cut off.

"Not now, Sasuke." Sakura said, as she started to move away from him. She was stopped when his hand wrapped around her wrist and jerked her back to him. She saw Shikamaru turn around and shook her head at him. His eyes narrowed but he didn't go to her.

"Yes now, Sakura." Sasuke said, his mouth close to her ear.

Sakura ripped her arm from his grasp. "Look. There are issues, this I know. But we are on a mission, Sasuke. Put the mission first and we will deal with this afterwards." she said. "Now get up there with Neji."

Sasuke glared at her. "Fine. But we will talk this out." he said before turning away from her.

"I have no idea what _this_ is." Sakura answered.

"You will." Sasuke said, as he sped up and away from her.

Shikamaru was instantly at her side. "Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. And you're right. He thinks there's something between us that's not there." She said. She thought she saw Shikamaru look away. "Shika?"

Shikamaru laughed. "Don't know where he's getting it from." He said, but the laugh didn't reach his eyes.

They were both silent for the next few hours, until it was time to stop and set up camp. They had left Konoha mid-day and it was already getting dark.

"Pull up. Set up camp." Sakura called, dropping down from the trees. Shikamaru quickly followed, along with everyone else.

They had dropped down in the middle of a clearing, that was covered over head in branches and leaves. Sakura stood on the middle, thumb nail between her teeth. Her team spread out around her while Shikamaru walked up behind her.

"Instructions?" He questioned quietly, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Sakura nodded before turning to Neji. "You and Sasuke set up camp." She turned to Hinata and Tori. "You guys take Kiba and Akamaru and find food and firewood." Then she turned to Shino. "Perimeter." Shino nodded, before turning away from her. "Shikamaru and I will follow behind you and set up our own." He nodded again and took off into the woods.

Sakura pulled her tent package out of her backpack and dropped it on the ground near Neji, then she dropped the rest of her pack near the closest tree. She turned to Shikamaru.

"Lets go." He nodded, noticing the onyx eyes that followed them as they jumped up into the trees and followed Shino.

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**Okie dokie. Done. What did ya think? Sasuke seems to be easily distracted, ne? :D Now. Click that buttom down at the bottom and review!**

**Jayde**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so so so so so so so so so so soooooooooo sorry you guys!! My computer completely died, then by the time we got it fixed they couldn't..or wouldn't, not sure which. Save my files. So I had to start all over. But here it is. Chapter four of Broken! Enjoy!**

**Sakura: WAIT!**

**Jayde: What?**

**Sakura: You forgot the disclaimer.**

**Jayde: Growls Fine. I do not, will not, have not, (all of this unfortunately) own naruto. :(**

* * *

Her team dropped their packs as soon as their feet hit the ground. They had been traveling hard all day. It was the last night they would be spending outside until the return trip, and Sakura had pushed them to their limits. It was already pitch black around them as Neji and Shino started putting up camp. Kiba started a fire while Sasuke vanished in to the forest to find food. Shikamaru had dropped his pack and flew back up into the trees to set up a perimeter.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Tori, who was talking frantically with Hinata, who kept shaking her head at the younger Hyuuga. Sakura chose to ignore them for the time being and moved over to Neji. He had just finished Tori and Hinata's tent, and was moving over to the next tent. Shino was moving around, sending little bugs out to follow Shikamaru. Sakura stepped in front of Neji, stopping his action of bending over to pick up the tent in front of him.

"The girls and I are going to take turns bathing in the river down where it pools under the water fall. We'll keep watch for each other, but I need you to keep watch over the watchers. I want everyone on alert while we're split up like that. Then we'll work out a rotation for the guys who want to do the same." She said, gaining a nod from the quite Hyuuga. She had whispered. The only one who might have heard her had been Shino, and she wasn't the one she was worried about keeping it from.

Sakura flicked her eyes back over to Tori and Hinata. "Hinata, Tori." Both girls heads snapped up to their captain, giving her their full attention. "Fight over who takes the first bath and gather your things. You know the drill." Both women nodded before turning away from her. They knew the drill. She always took her bath last. Never first. And when it _is_ her turn, she has Shikamaru join her female companion or companions, depending on how big the team is, on the look out. Its not that she doesn't trust anyone else….

Its just that she doesn't trust anyone else.

Sakura hopped up into the trees, heading to the waterfall, that had a pool of water under it, that wasn't far from their camp. She landed on a particularly large branch that was only several trees into the forest, but far enough back that she couldn't be seen from any direction, unless of course they were looking for a pink haired Ninja who happened to be watching her female companions bathe.

Hinata ended up taking the first bath. And Sakura watched her. Of course, it wasn't the "Oh look, naked Hinata" kind of watch. She watched Hinata like she watched the rest of the surrounding forest. She watched her for any sign of intruders or enemies. Hinata kept her Byakugan on the entire time, as did Tori, who was sitting opposite of Sakura, completely on the other side of the clearing. Sakura had the waterfall to her right, while Tori had it to her left.

Hinata didn't take too long, and was quickly out before Tori changed places with her. Sakura watched Tori the same way she had watched Hinata, noting how one of Tori's kunai pouches could be seen just under the water. They always kept weapons on themselves. Even when bathing. She'd end up having to toughly clean the kunai pouch later though.

Sakura leaned back and relaxed on the tree trunk while she kept her eyes on Tori and the surrounding area. Tori faced the waterfall, leaving Sakura and Hinata on both of her sides. Sakura would be able to deflect anything that aimed for her. After a few more minutes Tori finally gave the single that she was getting out, which was a dive below the water. Sakura sat up straighter and slipped a hand up to her ear.

"Shika." She stated, into the headset.

"Sakura." Was the reply.

"I'm going in now. I need you up here." Sakura replied back, dropping down from the trees as soon as Tori had gotten completely dressed.

"How come Shikamaru's the only one that gets to watch you while you bathe?" A different voice questioned though the microphone. Kiba needed to stop being so damn curious. And if Sasuke was listening in then it might not end out pretty.

"Because I don't trust someone like you to not hop down and try to join me." Sakura replied.

"You've got Hinata and Tori, why do you need the Nara?" Sasuke.

"_Thanks Kiba."_ Sakura thought inwardly.

"Because they don't have the reaction time that Shika does. Look. I'm not explaining this to anyone else. Shika, hurry up please." Sakura said, before ripping the headset out of her ear. It was either that, or listen to the smart remarks. Its not like Shika wouldn't tell her what was said anyway. And if something important was said, either he or Tori would make sure she knew about it ASAP.

She waited for Tori to hop up in the tree she had been sitting in, before pulling chakra to her feet and moving across the pool of water, heading to the waterfall. Unlike the other two, she preferred showers. And the small waterfall was good enough to tempt her. Before slipping to the other side, she waited until she knew Shikamaru was in the vicinity. When she heard a low whistle, his signal, she walked though the falling water to the other side, coming up to a rocklike shore, where she proceeded to strip off her clothes.

She left the kunai pouch on her leg like Tori had done, and pulled the hidden senbon pouch off of her arm and wrapped it around her leg, not far below the kunai pouch itself. Sighing she turned around and let the chakra in her feet go, making her fall into the water. Here it was shallower making the water come up to about her waist. Stepping forward, she turned around one more time, until her bare back was to the forest, while she faced the slick rock in front of her. The cool water slammed down on her, hard enough that it would end up working out the tension in her shoulders. It had been a hot day, now that it had cooled off, the water was warm, having soaked up the heat from the sun all day. It felt good around her legs as she started to bathe herself. Her eyes closed and she let her head fall back. Her fingers glazed over his skin as she washed the dirt and sweat from her body. It had indeed been a long, hot day.

Her sense were alert, sharp. She could hear everything around her, even over the roaring water. She could feel the slight chakra signatures that her team mates were giving off. Tori to the right, Hinata to the left, Shikamaru behind her. She could also feel someone watching her. Or…well…some ones. More than one. She started searching for specific members of her team. The pool of water was close enough to their camp that she could already tell that Kiba, Shino and Neji were all still at camp. She almost rolled her eyes, groaning to herself.

"_Not what I need." _She thought. She could feel Sasuke closer than he should have been. Apparently Shikamaru hadn't sensed him yet, or he wouldn't have been as close as he was. He couldn't see anything, thank kami. It was the main reason they kept their backs to the camp. Her male team mates always got curious.

She was too busy focusing on Sasuke that she didn't notice when Tori and Hinata's chakra signatures fade off. She also didn't catch the fact that Shikamaru's had gotten closer until she felt to hands wrap around her upper arms. Apparently she wasn'tkeeping her senses sharp enough.

Sakura jumped, flipping a kunai out of her pouch and had it threateningly close to the attackers liver. The hands quickly left her arms, only to slowly slide around her bare and wet waist with much caution. She shifted the kunai enough that it should have gone though skin and hit a vital point, but she couldn't get any farter then the first twitch. She couldn't move. She stiffened when she felt hot breath near her ear. The fingers around her waist moved in slow circles, almost as if they were afraid of touching her. Well, they should have been. But for some reason she didn't feel threatened.

"Sakura…" Came a whisper.

Every muscle in her body relaxed, and she even went as far as trying to lean back on the hard chest behind her. She hadn't even been searching for his signature as soon as she was "attacked". Always thinking that she could take care of herself.

"Dear Kami, Shika." She whispered, as she felt one of his shadow jutsus fade away from her body allowing her previous attempt to follow though. She could feel his skin though his mesh shirt. He started pulling her backwards, out of the waterfall. Moving her slowly. Something had to be wrong if he was near her like this. He knew she hated anyone getting within touching range.

Shikamaru slid closer to her, letting his hands fall from her waist and down to the water around it, cupping a handful, before tilting it to the left. That explained the "others" she had felt watching her.

"_Damn. Cloud ninja." _She cursed inwardly. How had she missed them? Quickly she searched for more, finding that she couldn't even sense then two that were watching them, and she knew where they were!

She watched as Shikamaru let the water fall down her body, before she felt his mouth cover her shoulder. She had to resist the urge to stiffen. She knew why he was doing it. She had her chakra concealed enough that she only wondered what it looked like for the Cloud ninja. They probably thought that she was just a normal girl, spending time with her ninja lover, who wasn't at all concerned that there were other ninja around. Perhaps he didn't even know? She hoped that's what they were thinking anyway. If not, they should have been dead by now, or at least in a very interesting fight where she was fighting naked. Not something she wanted to do.

She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back on his shoulder as his own hands dipped below the water again, this time, running over her legs. He kept them as civil as possible, but of course, to someone far away, it looked like so much more.

"_And just how horrible would it be if he touched us like that?" _Inner Sakura asked. It startled her enough that she stood straight up, letting her hands fall over Shikamaru's wrists. It had been years since she had heard from her notorious inner self.

Shikamaru cupped up another handful of water, this time tilting it to the right. Sasuke was standing on a tree branch. Not even bothering to hide his chakra enough that the enemy shinobi couldn't sense him. His eyes were locked on her, narrowed dangerously.

Sakura felt Shikamaru's hand slid across her ear, before she felt the ear piece get placed snuggly into her ear canal. His fingers continued to trail though her now down and wet hair. To anyone else it would look like he had been pulling a strand behind her ear. She mimicked the movement, while turning her head to look up at Shikamaru, making sure that her hair was safely behind her ear of course. She let a radiant smile cross her face.

"Get your ass back to camp, Sasuke, and cover it." She said, keeping her eyes locked on Shikamaru's face. He was far enough to her left that he was blocking her exact lip movements, but she knew that they could see enough to decide that she was talking to him. It was a…convenient position. Hopefully they wouldn't decide that it was too convenient.

They were now, officially, under cover from the two Cloud nin sitting just beyond the trees. Her hope was not put to waste. As soon as Shikamaru's mouth covered her's, both the Cloud nin and Sasuke had vanished into the forest.

She vaguely noticed him guiding her back to the inside of the waterfall, back to her clothes. She quickly pulled away from him and turned back around, a blush creeping up on her cheeks. No way in hell was she about to let him see that.

Shikamaru sighed. "I wish you hadn't of taken off that headset. " he said, as he kept an arm around her waist while he picked up her clothing. "We have a problem." he finished, while handing her clothing over to her.

"Obviously." Sakura said, while she quickly started getting dressed, noticing how Shikamaru turned just enough where he couldn't see her.

"You didn't have a problem looking at me earlier." She whispered, as she finished pulling her vest around her. She had learned to make amazing time while dressing for emergencies. She saw the Nara boy stiffen.

"I… Sakura…" He was looking at her now, confusion in his eyes. "It was just your back. " he said, his eyes narrowing at her.

"Not the entire time it wasn't." Sakura retorted back. Shikamaru seemingly decided to ignore her statement, as he jumped up above the water, before landing back on its disturbed surface.

Sakura followed suit after picking up her long, thin, katana and flipping it over her back. She moved her senbon pouch back to her arm, where it was again hidden by the sleeves of her shirt. While she followed Shikamaru out from under the waterfall, she tightened the grip she still had on the kunai in her hand, before slipping her hand over her shoulder to take hold of her katana. They were running across the water now, headed straight for the camp.

"What happened, Sakura? You let your guard down. You didn't even see them. Let alone notice when your own team mates vanished." Shikamaru said, turning his head enough to look at her.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "I could say the same about you. You didn't even notice that Sasuke had crept away from camp and was watching me." she said, slipping the kunai back into her pouch. She needed at least one hand free.

A hurt look flashed thought Shikamaru's eyes, but only for a second. It was gone so fast that she wasn't even sure that she saw it. She ignored his feelings, and got straight to the point. Now was not the time for bullshit.

"You've never done this before, Shika." He voice was low, quite. Almost a whisper, if not already.

"I..I couldn't…" he was stammering. Great. "I couldn't take my eyes off of you." He _was_ whispering. At least he was being honest with her.

Sakura looked away from him, frowning. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth before taking a deep breath. "You need to snap out of it. Stop it before it gets even farther. Don't get attached like that." There, she'd said it, and they were at the camp now.

"_Stop being such a bitch. You know you fully enjoyed the fact that he was touching you." _She pushed her inner self to the back of her head. She really didn't need help from someone who was also her right now.

They had kept their chakra signatures low as they approached. Their camp was a mess, and there were twelve cloud nin rushing about.

Hinata's back was to a tree, a cloud nin advancing towards her. Her chakra reserves were already lower then they should have been, and Sakura reminded herself to make sure that she only had Hinata use her Byakugan when she really needed to. Hinata didn't have the reserves that Neji or Tori did.

Sakura quickly noticed that Hinata's arms hung limp at her side, before pinpointing the reason. Two senbon, one in each arm, had punctured the specific muscles that gave her the access to use them.

"Shit." Sakura whispered, they had to have a medic nin with them. If not that, then a ninja that was highly trained in the body to know of such things. Not to mention, to be able to get them past Hinata's Byakugan in the first place.

Hinata's eyes were wide. She couldn't lift her arms to form seals, let alone attack or defend. Sakura watched as she closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

"Neji-nii-san!!" was the scream that was heard though the forest.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the Cloud ninja before her fell to the ground. Dead. Neji had instantly appeared in front of Hinata. He quickly spun around to face Hinata, his hands ripping the senbon out of her arms.

Neji Hyuuga's feelings on his cousin had changed drastically over the years, and Sakura wasn't the only one who had seen it. The worry etched across his face right now was enough to douse anyone's doubts. He protected her, like his father had once told him to do. He no longer loathed his beautiful cousin.

Sakura ripped her eyes away from the two to look for the rest of her team.

Kiba and Akamaru were taking on two of the cloud ninja, while Shino and Sasuke each had two of their own. Tori was hopping around the other battles, fending off anyone who came after her, trying to get to Hinata and Neji. She was in full medic state of mind at the moment. Sakura quickly pulled the katana off her back and jump off the branch, to intervene two cloud nin that were now chasing after her younger apprentice. She landed on the branch that Tori had just vacated, getting in between the cloud ninja and their target.

Both ninja skidded to a halt in front of her, dropping down into defensive stances. Both men glared at her for getting in their way. One of them had red hair, the other had blue.

"Move bitch! We want the Hyuuga!" The red haired yelled, pulling a kunai out from behind him. Good, now she knew where his pack was. She pointingly ignore his statement.

They had landed on the same branch that she was standing on, which was duly noted on her part. She lifted her hand above her head and placed it palm side up on the underside of the branch above her, before pulling chakra into her heel and tapping the branch, shattering the inside. A smirk crossed her features as she watched them fall to the forest floor, while she was still connected via hand to the tree. Using chakra, she pushed her self down from the tree, landing on the ground before they did. She landed a chakra infused kick to the blue haired man that reached her first, sending him back up into the trees. He never touched the ground. Her hand reached up and grabbed a hold of the red haired man, using enough chakra to slam him into the tree they had just vacated.

"_Hm. He'll be out long enough." _She thought to herself, as she pushed off the ground, following Blue into the trees. He had landed, upside down, on a branch. He looked dazed as she rushed at him, using other branches as more momentum. Her katana was laid out behind her, cutting though the wind she was creating around it. With an uppercut, she sliced though the trunk of the tree, causing him and the tree to start pummeling to the ground once again. Naruto had taught her just enough about wind justsu, right after she learned her element, the rest, well, she figured that out on her own of course.

Flicking her wrist, she cut though Blue's shirt, forcing him to lunge backwards in mid air. He didn't get far enough, when she slashed against him again, this time, hitting skin. He whipped his kunai around to block her next attack, but it wasn't enough as it cut thought the metal and landed in his shoulder, cutting bone. It wasn't numbing like Sasuke's chidori infused blade was. It was pure pain, and it pleased her when his curdling scream echoed though the forest. Her smirk deepened.

"Should have thought before you tried to get to my team." she said, as she increased the wind chakra pulsing though her katana, as she used chakra to force it down into his shoulder even more.

It cut clean. Another curdling scream pierced the air as his arm fell to the ground below. They were still falling.

"Lovely." Sakura stated, letting her foot connect with his chest, shoving him into the tree behind him. He was too busy trying to focus on the bleeding hole on his shoulder to notice that the bark was ripping though his back, until it too hit bone. Sakura's chakra was shoving him farther and farther into the tree. He wasn't fighting back, and it was starting to piss her off.

She pulled her arm back, only to shove it forward again, shoving her blade into his stomach, hilt deep, making it break into the tree behind her target.

That's when she sensed him. Red was pushed up though the trees, headed in her direction. Blue was too busy bleeding in front of her to bother trying to fend her off. Sakura ripped her blade out of him, before sending more chakra to her foot and shoving him down to the forest floor. Instead of watching him fall, she spun around to block Red's windmill shuriken. It was closed, and landed on her blade, inches form her face. Sure. She could have made it easy and sliced though the weapon. Its what her element was for. But windmill shuriken fascinated her. She wanted it.

She pushed him back, away from her as she flipped back to land on the tree behind her. That's when she saw Sasuke flash in front of her, then Red fall to the ground with his buddy, dead. An almost primitive growl escaped her lips before Sasuke turned to look at her, while he landed on the branch of the tree opposite her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, actual worry flashing across his face.

Sakura didn't answer him. Instead she started running down the tree, to Red's body. She felt Sasuke following her as she landed on the forest floor. She ignore his presence as she ran past the two bodies of the cloud nin, who were now missing a kunai pouch and a windmill shuriken.

Suddenly, her name rang though the headset.

"Sakura-sensei!"

"Sakura-san!"

"Sakura!"

She answered Tori first. "What's happening, Tori?" She questioned.

"We've got a medic nin here." A pause. Was she fighting? Tori came back on the headset, breathing heavly. "He's better then me. Shit!" Another pause.

"Where are you Tori?" Sakura asked, vaguely aware that Sasuke was next to her, keeping pace.

"East side of camp." Again, she was breathless. "Hurry." She pleaded.

Over to Shino.

"What is it Shino?" She asked.

"Same thing as Tori. I cant get in there to help. He seems set on fighting either a medic nin or a Hyuuga. Don't know which, since Tori's both." Shino answered.

Neji cut in. He had been the last one to call for her. "Not a Hyuuga. He wont let me in there either. He wants a medic nin, and Tori just isn't strong enough. He's going to kill her." He wasn't being an ass, he was just telling the truth.

"I'm on my way." Sakura said, picking up her speed.

"What can you do, Sakura?" Sasuke questioned, in his 'You can't do shit' voice.

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she leapt to the next branch. "A whole lot more then you can, Uchiha."

"I learned quite a bit in the fighting of medic nin's from Kabuto." he stated proudly.

Sakura shook her head. "I really don't care, Sasuke. I don't want to talk about how great you are, right now. I have other priorities." And she took off, leaving Sasuke to dwell in his own ego.

* * *

**WOOT! Okay. So its done. Yay! Now to start working on Chapter 5. Which I have like..half a page of already. Yay. :D So. Now Review if you can! If not, um..wait for chapter 5.**

**Growls And this always seems SO much longer on my word processor. **


	5. Chapter 5

Yeah, I'm sorry I had to do this. This story is being put on hold. More information is located in my profile.


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